Stereograph

Description

The Mount Lebanon Meetinghouse (1824), especially during Sunday public meeting when a variety of the public's vehicles were tied along the road, was frequently photographed. Of particular interest is the gathering of men at the left-hand public entrance. In August 1851, Evert Duyckinck, editor of the Literary World, attended meeting at Mount Lebanon and noted that the doors were marked "Males" (left) and "Females" (right) so members of the public would know where to enter. [See: Richmond 3181 for citation] Dating this particular image is interesting. In May 1871 the Shakers put up the wire fence shown in the photograph on both sides of the street and set out the Norway spruce trees seen in the foreground. In early April, 1874 Elder Daniel Boler set iron "loop screws" into the upper part of the Meetinghouse exterior walls from which staging used for painting would be hung. These screws do not appear in the photograph leaving a period between May 1871 and April 1874 for the photograph to have been made. The only time that James Irving was documented to have been photographing at Mount Lebanon during that period was on July 10, 1871. [OClWHi, Shaker Collection, mss. no. V:B-159] This card is marked with what appears to be a rubber stamp of its back that reads, "Irving, Photographer, _______________, ____Troy, N. Y." A pencil inscription on the back reads, "Shaker Church Mt. Lebanon, NY."